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MastersOfManagementProgram

In my the SF Bay area, Carnegie Mellon West has several masters programs, including this one:

http://west.cmu.edu/education/MS/courses/MSSD-Track/

That web page says:

"There are no traditional lectures. Instead, working in teams with your fellow students, you learn by doing, putting new skills and knowledge into practice immediately. Expert mentors are always available to provide advice, guidance, feedback, and one-on-one coaching."

Sounds a lot better than pure lectures... and just little bit like AYE.

Do you have any advice for me?

A year from now, would a fresh masters degree and 16 years experience in software development, help me get fabulous job offers?

KeithRay

I wonder how the whole notion of the maturity model plays out in the management philosophy behind this program. Is CMM an approach that you find interesting?

BTW, one of the faculty members, Lynn Carter, attended the first I [(AYE?)] conference, if I remember correctly.

Are there other management programs in your area that you would consider?

ED 031303

KeithRay

So, what's the value in a course of study. I can mention a few:

• There is some guidance available from domain experts, or can be.
• There are people who are familiar with an entire canon which you are not yet acquainted with.
• Being around learners is quite stimulating. The learner density on the job can be quite low.
• Being around diverse backgrounds and points of view can be quite stimulating. The diversity density can be quite low on the job as well.
• Some branding goes along with the certification, assuming you get one. "Stanford Computer Science Degree" has some impact on VCs, and others, and with some justification. There's nothing wrong with using a degree or a school affiliation as an indicator, absent other information

I've contemplated schools of various kinds from time to time myself. The big motivators for me are in the items I've mentioned. I do notice that none of these benefits correlates particularly strongly with classrooms, lectures, homework, grading or written test. I'd much prefer a curriculum that is much more guiding some exploration than "classwork."

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to justify the expense, more time and schedule constraints than money, simply in terms of what I would learn. To justify the expense to myself, I've also needed the payoff that comes with branding, and the "branding events" seem to go mostly with classrooms, taught by TAs and so on.

- JimBullock, 2003.03.17 (But, what do I know?)

• You expand your network

-- DaveSmith

I didn't go to the open house... maybe if they hold another one.

Something I've read lately: that the success-results of affirmative action in University admissions comes from connections / networking that people there get to do. The Latino or African American attending an Ivy League college gets not only a degree to put on a resume, but also contacts for forming business relationships, job-hunting, and so on. Almost but not quite gets the some of same advantages of that other kind of "preferenced admission" -- the "legacy" (rich kid whose parent went to the same U.)

Another thing: an interview with Peter F. Drucker published in 1970's, where he said that the only "rational" reason to go to graduate school would be to avoid the draft.

KeithRay 2003.03.18

Well, as far as building a network of connections goes, I think you can build a pretty good one here, and the tuition is much lower.

ED 031803

It just sucks that the East Coast gets all the "traditional" offerings and out West you get the experimental stuff. You'd think if someone had a truly experimental program they'd push the experiment to both walls!

Anyway... my opinion is that any good masters program will buy you more contacts. You already have contacts from SHAPE and AYE and hopefully these associations are fruitful (certainly no lack of words, eh?). If I were approaching Carnegie Mellon West I would ask them point blank "What's in it for me" - meaning, okay, I get a degree (which is not a bankable item, even if rewarding) then what? Or, why is your program worth paying for when I already have a wealth of experience?

Re: Drucker. It was the seventies, and who wanted to go to Vietnam? I guess not Peter Drucker.

Re: Ivy League. Well, now I understand a lot more about our President! Okay, I confess to having been an Ivy League school student myself (no, not in New Haven). I can say that I was in the same class at U of Penn as Ed Rendell, current Governor of PA. That hasn't bought me a lot lately, or even ever to tell you the truth.

Bottom line: A year from now, would a fresh masters degree and 16 years experience in software development, help me get fabulous job offers?

You will be able to teach in a University.

BeckyWinant 2003-03-18

If you are still interested in this, send me an email. I can forward it along to Lynn Carter (I hesitate to put anyone's email out in public.... silly?). He is a good friend of mine as well as an instructor in this program. He worked at the SEI for many years; working in Carnegie Mellon as well for a few years. He transferred completely to Carnegie Mellon a few months ago.

Diane, 3/25/03

[email protected]

re: Well, as far as building a network of connections goes, I think you can build a pretty good one here, and the tuition is much lower.

I'm pretty sure the two networks are not equivalent. The AYE folks (and a variety of other communities of practice) are more interesting and I learn more. The net is wider, I think. The folks from University networks & similar seem to have more money to throw around. They seem to go more of starting companies (where people work, vs. microbusinesses), getting VC dollars, getting the titles where resources are allocated and so on.

-JimBullock, 2003.03.26

SherryHeinze 2003.03.26

Thanks, whoever did that. I've just tripped on a couple more list items: research grants, incubator funding (both government and non government), and entry into referreed conversations & journals. Also the access seems different to jobs that are more strategic and conceptual, less operational.

-- JimBullock, 2003.03.27